(e-flux.com) Almost 25 years after the corrosion of the Soviet Union, still little is known about the social fabric that wove it together. Architecture and urbanism have been one of its strongest warps: creating a feeling of social unity and being one of the agents of its dissolution. This continent of architecture, afflicted by inner contradictions that enfolded within a homogenized space, is full of masterpieces waiting to be formally discovered. TrespassingModernities explores this landscape and an approach of building for a fundamentally different idea of society.

Examples of practices by local architects working in the 1960s and 1970s followed by the critical approach of the Paper Architecture movement in the 1980s are brought together from the 15 countries that once made up the Soviet Union. Through a selection of scale models, drawings, photographs, films and ephemera that portray the legacy of post-war Soviet architecture, the exhibition will offer a glance at a still existing void in the canonical history of architecture. This issue will be discussed further in a conference to be held at SALT Galata on May 10–11.

Trespassing Modernities is programmed for SALT by Georg Schöllhammer with support from Ruben Arevshatyan. The exhibition is based on the research of Local Modernities, a project by Georg Schöllhammer, Ruben Arevshatyan, Klaus Ronneberger, Markus Weisbeck and Heike Ander, which initiated the exhibition Soviet Modernism 1955–1991 Unknown Stories (2012)at Architekturzentrum Wien.

FRONTLINE CLUB GEORGIA

Frontline Georgia is a media club that aims to serve as a politically-neutral venue for journalists, public officials, students, intellectuals come together in a dialogue over media, social, political and cultural issues important for Georgia and the region. Frontline Georgia holds panel discussions, screenings, exhibitions, conferences and master classes.

Frontline Georgia’s mission is to contribute to quality journalism and exchange of views. Its Events Program will bring together the key players and thinkers in politics and the media and give a member an opportunity not only to hear from experts but to ask questions and contribute to the discussion in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

While there are other meeting places for important public discussions, Frontline Georgia is among the very few, where people from different ideological and political camps meet together. This neutrality has been one of the biggest achievements of the club, which operates in Georgia’s highly politicized and polarized social and media environment.

Ruth Olshan in her film portrays musicians who work with different approaches: a male choir searching and cultivating old folk songs in the Caucasus region, a female choir, a school dance company and musicians who enhance Georgian folk music. There is a common denominator that links the diverse protagonists in Olshan’s film: Singing, dancing and music are crucial elements of their lifestyle. Music is as important as “air to breath,” explains the director of the female choir . The subtle camera work discreetly catches moments and spontaneous encounters, showing that the rehearsals and the singing brings moments to these women where they are taken away from their normal course of life. For life in Rustavi, a small town near Tiflis, seems bleak. The industry is dead, the unemployment rate is enormous. You ask yourself how people can live. The choir women’s beauty and positive energy exude an affirmative sign of life, even in mournful moments. Men and women sing and dance both joy and sorrow off their chest. In Georgia, music seems to be omnipresent, almost existential. Even if a young singer does not think folk music is “sexy”, he still gets hooked. It gets under his skin. The film pays tribute to this fascination, vitality, and spiritedness.

IMPRESSUM

Disclaimer

Most of the material on this site is sourced from other online publishers. I hereby acknowledge the original authors of this material. This material does not always reflect the views and opinions of the webmaster.
This site does not host any of the videos found here, or upload them to the internet. Rather, we take advantage of existing material that has been uploaded by other parties.